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Wining & Dining on Napa Valley Wine Train

March 21, 2011 by Shelli

Getting ready to board the Wine Train.

It was our first time to Napa Valley and California’s wine country. After a bunch of hiking and exploring the Marin Headlands to the south, we were looking forward to some spectacular wining and dining. Napa Valley seemed like just the place.

We like riding on trains and don’t get the opportunity to do so very often. We also preferred to have someone else do the driving since we’d be testing a bunch of wine and weren’t familiar with the region. And, we were looking forward to some great food along the way.

Drinking wine on the Wine Train. Life is good.

Enter the Napa Valley Wine Train. Called one of Napa’s most unique and delicious dining experiences, the Napa Valley Wine Train takes you right through the heart of Napa Valley, passing vineyards and wineries.

The train itself and riding on it was a fantastic experience. We loved every minute of the train ride. The scenery was wonderful and different for us, and we enjoyed it all in upscale comfort.

We had booked the Grgich Hills Winery Tour. So, after a wine tasting seminar at the Wine Train station, we boarded the train at 11 am and were seated in the fine dining car. We starting enjoying our 3-course gourmet lunch at around 11:30.

Jerry, getting ready to eat some roasted tenderloin.

The lunch was to die for. We were seated in a refurbished 1915-1917 Pullman Car for the scenic ride through Napa Valley. To start, Jerry had lobster bisque soup and I had a baby lettuce salad with candied walnuts and smoked goat cheese in a honey cider vinaigrette. Then, Jerry enjoyed a roasted tenderloin on gorgonzola toast with asparagus sautéed in a cabernet beef demi sauce. I had thyme-glazed pan seared roasted chicken breast on baby carrot soft polenta and kale in a grilled orange Beurre Blanc.

Getting a tour of Grgich Hills Winery, in Napa Valley.

Because we were riding a wine train through world-famous wine country, of course we had to imbibe wine. Jerry had a glass of Terra Valentine Cabernet Sauvignon (2007) and I had a Robert Mondovi Pinot Noir (2008). It was all delightfully delicious — even more so given the fact we were doing it from a train traveling through Napa Valley.

Just tasting wine, over and over again. This is during the Grgich Hills Winery tour.
At around 12:30, we disembarked from the train for a 1-hour tour of Grgich Hills Winery. Grgrich Hills owns five vineyards in Napa Valley.

Some interesting things we learned on the Winery Tour:
–Miljenko “Mike” Grgich began “stomping grapes” at age three for his family’s table wine. Many years later Grgich worked under some of the most celebrated California winemakers. In the historic Paris Tasting of 1976, his 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay bested the top white Burgundies to win first place. (This catapulted him to the forefront of the world’s great winemakers.)
–It takes about 15 people to pick 18 acres of grapes in seven-and-a-half hours.
-Grgich Hills Winery produces 70,000 cases of wine a year.
–They purchase barrels, which store the wine during production and whose wood gives it much of its flavor, for $1,000 each new and they use them for three or four years before selling them for about $100 each.
–Cabernet spends the most time in the barrels – about two years — and will be in the new barrels.
–Grgich Hills’s Chardonnay spends about 10 months in the barrels.
–One normal barrel equals 25 cases of wine — 300 bottles of wine.
–3 normal barrels equal approximately one ton of grapes.
–How to volatize the esters (before tasting/drinking the wine)
–Grgich Hills Estate is world-renowned for its wines, including its Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Fume Blank, Merlot, Zinfandel and Violetta, a dessert wine.
–While I wouldn’t call myself anything but a very amateur wine drinker, I can report that Grgich Hills’ wine is tasty, particularly their flagship Chardonnay.

To die for: Chocolate fudge cake in a Cabernet sauce.
After tasting five different kinds of wines and learning a lot at Grgich Hills Winery, it was time to re-board the train. Once on the train, we enjoyed desserts that were to die for. Jerry had a creme brele and I had a piece of Cabernet chocolate cake. Nothing like to-die-for desserts to cap the day of wine tasting and train riding.

The Napa Valley Wine Train is an extraordinary experience. We had an amazing time. Particularly for folks who have only limited time available to experience Napa Valley and who are interested in riding a historic train, enjoying gourmet food and touring and tasting wine from local wineries, the Wine Train is a perfect solution. Book your experience.

Filed Under: Travel & Tourism Tagged With: california, grgich hills winery, napa valley, wine tasting, wine train

At Vino Bello Resort, We (Officially) Arrived

March 15, 2011 by Shelli

I have been traveling to the San Francisco, CA, region every month for the last five months for life coach training in San Rafael. My final course was last week. And, thanks to my parents, who so graciously offered to watch our three sons, my husband, Jerry was able to fly out and meet me in California. We spent 3 nights there on what could be called a “second honeymoon.”

Jerry and I near Muir Beach -- almost done hiking.

As readers of this blog know, I love to embark on long, epic, hiking adventures.

Jerry’s an avid hiker, too, and I couldn’t wait to show him the area trails I had discovered. So last Monday, we hiked our legs off in the Marin Headlands region. We hiked 22 miles, including 4,000’+ of elevation gain.

We hiked most of the trails in Muir Woods National Monument, plus linked trails to hike the Dipsea and Steep Ravine trails, before linking several more trails to hike to the East Peak of the 2,571-foot-high Mt. Tamalpais, before descending on yet more trails upon our return to Muir Woods. But that wasn’t enough — we wanted to hike a shore-hugging trail, too, so we drove to nearby Muir Beach and hiked the Coastal Trail to Pirate’s Cove before returning and wading bare feet into the Pacific ocean.

In other words, we were not having a lazy time of it. And our sustenance while hiking — energy bars and bottled water — was nothing to boast about.

Boy oh boy, were we ready for some gluttony.

And what better place to be gluttonous than California’s Napa Valley?

So next up: Vino Bello Resort. We entered its address into my Droid’s navigation system, and exited Muir Woods National Monument to head to the land of fine wine.

After driving through rolling green hills and past vineyards and wineries, we approached our destination, the Vino Bello. Pure luxury is what it looked like from the outside as we parked our car. Here, the Droid navigation lady said in her usual nice voice, “You Have Arrived.”

The nicest "condo" I have ever seen or stayed in.

Boy, had we ever!

California wine country’s newest luxury resort, the Vino Bello Resort, with its “World Tuscan” decor, and set amidst vine-covered hills, beckoned.

Wine tasting, part 1. Here we test Trinitas in the Resort's Tasting Room.

Ravenous, and with mud caked on our lower legs and to the bottoms of our shoes, and smelling a little worked-over and stinky, we were greeted by people behind the desk calling us by our first names and ready to respond to our every need. We were being waited on hand and foot. Dare I say, pampered? 🙂

It only went up, up, up from there.

Once in our room we discovered we not only had a big warm shower awaiting us but a shower with not one — but 5! — showerheads.

Not too shabby.

We enjoyed an upscale condominium-type room that included a full kitchen, a full living room complete with fireplace, a full jacuzzi bath, spacious bathroom, and a huge comfy poster bed.

The resort is pure luxury. It includes a state-of-the-art underground, 22,000-square-foot spa, called Spa Terra, where guests enjoy serenity, with natural stone and copper water and a wide variety of spa treatments. Inside the spa we found a relaxation lounge, 10 treatment rooms, including couples rooms that are cocooned in the heart of the earth. Both ladies and gentlemen’s private lounges feature whirlpools, steam grottos and soothing water walls. Like I said, this is quite a place — a destination in itself.

We got cleaned up and then explored the great selection of American wines at the Estate Wine Cave and Meritage Wine Tasting Bar, where we tasted several glasses of Trinitas wine, paired with local gourmet truffles. Are you kidding me? Chocolate, a variety of wines to taste, massages and facial treatments and luxury accommodations. Did I mention we had arrived?

Posing in the 22,000-square-foot underground cave spa.
One of the pools at the Vino Bello Resort.

After a bunch of wine tasting and further exploring of the grounds of the hotel, we enjoyed a delicious dinner and retreated to one of the hot tubs under a starry sky before closing in for the night. We slept in and had a hard time getting ourselves out of the room the next morning. We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast from the restaurant before our stay at the Vino Bello came to an end. We had to leave sometime, right? After experiencing all this, I understood why my friend who recommended the Vino Bello to us warned me that we’d never want to leave the resort.

We did, but only because we had a (wine) train to catch.

The Vino Bello Resort was luxury and pampering all the way around for this frontier couple.

Indeed, for at least that one night, we had arrived. And it was epic.

Vino Bello Resort is part of Shell Vacations Hospitality.

Filed Under: Fitness, Frontier Life, Travel & Tourism Tagged With: california, napa valley, spa terra, trinitas, vino bello resort, winery

Country bumpkins head to Yosemite

May 16, 2009 by Shelli

It’s Saturday, May 20, and our trip to Yosemite Park has started.

Sabrina Thoren, and I, are en route from Riverton, WY, to Denver, to Las Vegas, to San Francisco, where we’ll then head to Yosemite National Park.

This trip is a hiking adventure to belatedly commemorate each of our turning 40.

Here, our “private jet” awaits our boarding in Wyoming. For any travelers crossing our paths today, we will be the 2 “country bumpkins.” hahaha
privatejet

At this moment, we’re gambling our way through a layover in Las Vegas.

Sabrina tries her luck during layover in Vegas.
Sabrina tries her luck during layover in Vegas.
Stay tuned.

It will get much more exciting when we’re in Yosemite National Park and can share some of the grandeur of that national park.

No way. Just passing through... the poster.
No way. Just passing through... the poster.

p.s. Nobody stalk us. We have knives, big ones. And bear spray.

Filed Under: National Parks, Travel & Tourism Tagged With: california, half dome, national park travel, vacation, yosemite, yosemite national park

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About Shelli

Hi. My name is Shelli Johnson. I live on the frontier in Lander, Wyoming. I’m a wife, a mother, an entrepreneur, certified life/leadership coach, wellness coach, keynote presenter and inspired speaker, leadership development facilitator, personal development strategist, writer and adventure guide. This blog mostly includes stories about adventures and travel, but other passions are reading/books, technology, fitness, nutrition, and national parks, so you’ll find a wide range of articles here. I am founder of Yellowstone Journal and YellowstonePark.com, and NationalParkTrips.com, which was my first business. My current company, Epic Life Inc., is in its 7th year, and going gangbusters. If you’re interested in learning more about my current work, I hope you’ll jump over there and learn more about that. I have a more personal blog, more directly related to life and living and leadership, at YourEpicLife.com/blog. I’d love it if you’d also check out that collection of my writings. Thank you for stopping by! Finally, if you’d like to connect with me directly, please email me if you’d like to connect.

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